Goddesses of War (The Guardians of Tara Book 4)

by S. M. Schmitz

  Hades lifted a shoulder. “Well, so far I’m not impressed.”

  “Mnemosyne made the others forget the past few months,” Lugh interjected. “I’m hoping Lethe can reverse what she’s done.”

  “How? It’s the river of oblivion.”

  “I don’t know,” Lugh admitted. “But we’re running out of time to save the world, and I’m desperate. But you control the river, so maybe reversing it can restore memories.”

  Hades sighed and rubbed a hand over his eyes. “I’m not taking that Norse asshole,” he said, pointing to Loki. “Find somewhere to dump him. I’m not happy about having to take Thor and Tyr either.”

  “They’re our friends,” Selena told him. “Not just our new allies. If we can help them, we will.”

  Hades arched an eyebrow at her and sighed again. “I suppose if they stab me in the back, you can heal me.”

  Thor grunted at him and rolled his eyes. “We’re not going to stab you in the back. Even if our families weren’t allies now, that’s dishonorable, and we Norse fight with honor.”

  “I knew your father,” Hades pointed out.

  Thor blinked at him then agreed. “Conceded.”

  “So what are we supposed to do while Hades is dunking our friends in a river of oblivion?” Cameron asked. “And don’t forget Ukko.”

  “Any chance I can dunk you in the river of oblivion?” Hades asked.

  “Clearly, I’m already pretty oblivious,” Cameron retorted.

  Hades nodded smartly then glanced at Badb. “So we’re friends with the Norse and Ukko now?”

  “Apparently.”

  “We’re kind of on the clock here, Hades,” Cameron said. “Think you can hurry up?”

  “Fine,” he sighed. “Probably not the worst idea we’ve ever had.”

  “No, but it’s got to be close,” Nemain added helpfully.

  “And right up there with binding Loki in a cave instead of killing him,” Thor added just as helpfully.

  “As a backup plan,” Lugh interjected, “find Mnemosyne. Give her a choice: Restore everyone’s memories or die.”

  “And if that actually works,” Hades said, “might want to send word to me as quickly as possible since this has a high likelihood of disastrous failure.”

  “So it’s just us?” Cameron asked nervously. “Selena and I are on our own?”

  “Afraid so,” Lugh responded. “I’ll keep working on opening this box. I know you don’t want to hear this, but let Selena fight with you.”

  Selena shook her head and insisted, “I’m not a warrior!”

  “No way,” Cameron said. “In fact, if she’d stay in Murias, I’d go back to Earth alone.”

  “Do you know why Fate chose you both?” Lugh asked.

  Cameron crossed his arms stubbornly and snapped, “And you do?”

  Lugh smiled and lifted a shoulder. “Danu has likely been planning Hanna’s birth for millennia, but why bring Midir and Étain back as the same gods who would become her parents?”

  “There was nothing special about us,” Selena said.

  “Are you kidding me?” Lugh shot back. “There was everything special about you both. All of Falias belonged to Midir, and he was always fair and just. And everyone loved Étain because she was endlessly kind and compassionate.”

  “What’s your point?” Cameron demanded. There was no way he was going back to Earth and fighting alongside his pregnant girlfriend. In fact, he wasn’t going back to Earth at all unless he could recruit more help from their family and allies.

  “My point,” Lugh said, “is that you haven’t even begun to realize just how powerful you are. And maybe having so many of your friends with you is a liability rather than an asset because you’re having to divide your attention to keep them safe. Go back to New Orleans. Figure out how to summon Huitzilopochtli and save the world.”

  “Oh, is that all we have to do?” Cameron asked.

  Lugh just smiled at him then cast them out of the Otherworld, sending them back to the empty streets of New Orleans. But this time, he and Selena were on their own.

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  Selena tossed her bag onto the hotel bed and complained, once again, about Cameron’s constant complaining. “Look,” she finally said, “if I can bring people back from the dead, you can figure out how to summon one asshole god and kill him!”

  “But Selena,” he whined, “every time we’ve done something everyone insists is impossible, it’s because we had no choice. You bringing all those people back in Austin, my stopping time… we just reacted to a catastrophic situation. Neither of us knows how we’re doing these things.”

  “Yeah,” she agreed. “And I think that’s why Lugh sent us back alone. If he puts us in a situation where we’re forced to act to protect one another, we’ll likely figure this out far faster than we would otherwise. Being on our own is a lot scarier, and that’s the whole point.”

  Cameron yawned and lay beside her. It had been almost twenty-four hours since he’d slept, and apparently, gods were just as incapable as mortals of foregoing sleep. “Find that coffee god yet?” he asked between two more yawns.

  “Rest,” she ordered. “I’m going to check—” But a knock on their door interrupted her, and Cameron groaned as he sat up and glared toward the offending sound.

  “Cameron? Selena?” a familiar voice called through the closed door.

  “London?” Cameron called back. “What the hell are you doing here?”

  “Um… do we have to discuss this through a door?”

  Selena cast a nervous glance in Cameron’s direction but opened the door, and the young Greek goddess hurried inside their room. She stood at the foot of their bed, flexing her fingers and shifting her weight as if unsure how to tell the friends she couldn’t remember news she didn’t want to share.

  “Jasper explained why I was sent to help you,” she said. “I can’t even remember meeting any of you, but I want to do something to prevent Ragnarok from taking the only home I’ve ever known away from me.”

  “The other gods have gone to Hades to see if Lethe can somehow restore their memories,” Selena replied. “Might be worth a shot.”

  London shook her head and insisted, “I don’t care if I never get those memories back. We have to find Huitzilopochtli. People are going to die.”

  “They’re already dying,” Cameron sighed. “The latest earthquake… things are getting bad.”

  “I know,” London said. “Which is why I’m here. Just tell me what to do.”

  “Yeah, she definitely doesn’t remember me,” Cameron said smartly.

  “I’m not sure what we should do now,” Selena admitted. “Every god we thought we’d killed is apparently immortal until we find their souls, Hel is pissed off at Cameron and Thor for freeing two of her prisoners, Ahriman is… okay, I’m not sure what he’s doing here except being a pain in the ass.”

  “It’s Ahriman,” Cameron said. “Being a pain in the ass is in his job description.”

  “And then there’s Mnemosyne,” Selena continued. “She tried to make us forget we were supposed to be tracking all these gods down, too, but it didn’t work on us. If you come up against her again, you could forget everything. I’m not sure it’s a good idea to be here until we at least get rid of the goddess who can so easily tamper with your mind.”

  “I’m willing to take that risk,” London insisted. “Look, I appreciate your concern, but I joined the New Pantheon because I wanted to protect this country and its people. And Huitzilopochtli is kinda posing the biggest threat to both we’ve ever faced.”

  “All right,” Cameron relented. “And since you don’t remember me, I’ll go ahead and admit you are awfully smart so you’ll probably come in handy.”

  London blinked at him then said, “Um… thanks?”

  Selena picked up the remote and turned on the television, where the newscaster stared back at them, reporting the earthquake in the Indian Ocean had triggered a tsunami after all. Another earthquak
e in California had wrought massive destruction, and Lassen Peak had begun to erupt for the first time since 1915. The gods watched news footage of volcanic ash soaring into the air as the newscaster attempted to explain the unexplainable. All over the world, natural disasters seemed to be signaling the apocalypse.

  “We can’t stop it,” Selena whispered. “We’re too late.”

  “We’re not giving up,” Cameron replied. “This is Hanna’s world, her fate. Do you remember how we first intentionally traveled to the Otherworld?”

  “Yeah, of course. I also remember you not taking it seriously.”

  Cameron waved her off. “I eventually took it seriously. And it worked. I might be descended from Danu, but I think she gave us the power to do the impossible. She never intended us to fight on our own. Help me stop this.”

  “Stop time?” Selena asked.

  “Yeah, let’s just freeze the world until we can get Loki back in some cave and prevent Ragnarok from going full-on Armageddon.”

  “You know those are two different end of the world scenarios, right?” London asked.

  Cameron waved her off too. “If the world is ending, who cares what it’s called?”

  London blinked at him then said, “Conceded.”

  “So we just… concentrate on stopping time?” Selena asked.

  Cameron shrugged. “Either that or start praying to Danu. Or God. Or maybe both. Someone out there has to be able to help.”

  “I’ll pray, you two concentrate on this time thing,” London said.

  Selena slipped her hand inside Cameron’s, and he sensed her thoughts focusing on Earth and the catastrophes that could soon end its ability to support life. He closed his eyes and concentrated, too, even though he felt a bit ridiculous just thinking he could somehow manipulate time so that volcanoes stopped erupting and tidal waves stopped in the middle of the ocean and the earth stilled so buildings wouldn’t break apart and collapse. But mostly, he found his thoughts returning to his daughter, the goddess who would one day be responsible for guarding a planet that a group of powerful and vengeful gods were trying to destroy.

  And he thought about Danu, how she’d so patiently and carefully planned to gift this world one last Guardian by waiting on two heirs, one of the great queen Macha and one of Fate herself, and how she’d chosen these demigods by reincarnating the souls of two lovers who’d wanted one more chance at life so they could have a child.

  “Holy shit,” London murmured.

  Cameron opened his eyes to see what had surprised her, but London had pulled back the curtain and was staring out the window.

  “What?” he asked. “Did Huitzilopochtli finally decide to show up?”

  “No. It was raining… maybe it technically still is, but look—the rain just stopped.”

  “That’s really not uncommon in Louisiana,” Cameron replied.

  “No,” London said again, sounding a bit exasperated this time. “I mean it stopped in mid-air.”

  Cameron and Selena glanced at each other then hurried to the window. Just as London had described, raindrops were refusing to fall to the ground.

  “How—” London started, but Cameron stopped her.

  “Let’s just agree right now to never ask us how we do anything. We’ll never know.”

  “So… is it okay to ask if this affects humans? I mean, we’re not frozen, so are mortals going to be all right?”

  “When I did this in Mexico City, only gods weren’t affected. We kinda exist between worlds, you know? So I think it only works on things that are entirely bound to Earth.”

  “I don’t think gravity counts as being entirely bound to Earth yet that rain is stuck,” London replied smartly.

  “Is it possible for you not to be a smartass?” Cameron retorted.

  “I can’t believe you just asked that,” Selena said.

  “This has got to piss off all the right gods,” London observed. “Should we wait here or go looking for them?”

  “We need to free Koschei’s soul and kill him,” Cameron explained. “Otherwise, fighting all the right gods won’t make any difference.”

  London bit her lip and drummed her fingers against her leg as she stared at the bizarrely paralyzed rain. “Enchanted vessel?” she asked.

  “Yep,” Cameron answered. “Lugh has it, but I’m afraid only Koschei will be able to open it.”

  “Well, there’s a Catch-22,” she muttered.

  “Funny,” Selena said. “A copy of that novel was left in this room.”

  Cameron nodded toward the table and chairs where they’d met with their friends what seemed like months ago. “It’s still on that chair. This can’t be a coincidence. We’re gods. We’re genetically programmed to be superstitious, so it’s some kind of sign, right?”

  Surprisingly, London nodded and agreed with him as she picked up the book with the bright blue cover. “Either of you read it?”

  “Yeah, in college,” Cameron told her. “But I can’t see how a novel set during World War II is supposed to help us now.”

  “Not sure either,” London admitted. “But Yossarian couldn’t get out of flying more missions because the only way to get grounded was to be insane, but the only reason he’d want to get out of flying more missions was if he were sane. So by asking to get grounded by claiming he was crazy, he was proving he was sane and had to keep flying.”

  “Okay,” Selena responded slowly. “So… we’re screwed just like Yossarian?”

  “He runs away though,” London continued. “He couldn’t get out of it legally, so he takes a huge risk and runs from Italy after discovering his friend Orr escaped. Maybe we’re going about this the wrong way too.”

  Cameron groaned and rubbed his tired eyes. “You couldn’t have thought of this before we dug up half of Snake Island where, by the way, I actually did have to fight two monstrously huge snakes?”

  London shrugged and thumbed through the pages of the novel. “Don’t remember all of that. Did you notice this book is brand new? The spine looks like this book has never even been opened and read.”

  Cameron crossed his arms and scowled at the book in London’s hands. “Maybe someone’s trying to tell us we should be in Italy.”

  “I’m on board,” Selena agreed.

  “Or,” London said, “we need to think outside the box, too, just like Yossarian did to get out of flying more missions.” She paused and grinned at them. “Get it? Think outside the box?”

  Cameron blinked at her then warned, “Don’t ever try to be funny again.”

  “Stop antagonizing Little Goddess,” Selena scolded.

  “Why am I Little Goddess?”

  “Long story,” Cameron explained. “But basically, it’s Thor’s fault.”

  “Seems legit.”

  “Can we get back to thinking outside the box?” Selena asked. “This time paralysis could end at any moment and all we’ve accomplished is sparking a mild interest in a novel I’ve never read.”

  “Well,” London offered, “if we can’t open the box, how about we destroy it? Killing Koschei’s soul would solve our first problem, right?”

  “Yeah, but it’s enchanted,” Cameron countered. “If we can’t even open it, what makes you think we can destroy it?”

  “You said it was buried,” London reasoned. “If Koschei went through the trouble of hiding this vessel, it has to have a weakness.”

  Lugh appeared beside them, scaring Cameron with his sudden, unexpected presence, so the young sun god pointed at him and threatened, “Bell.”

  “Never going to happen,” Lugh replied. “But here.” He handed his heir the sealed bronze box and explained, “Can’t be opened, not even by a different Slavic god.”

  “London thinks we should destroy it. Any ideas how?” Cameron asked.

  “Um… fire?”

  “You’ve been pretty useless lately, you know that?” Cameron teased.

  Lugh smiled and arched an eyebrow at his young friend. “That’s not what Badb says.”
>
  “Selena,” Cameron warned. “Lobotomy.”

  Lugh laughed and gestured toward the bronze box. “I was a sun god too. Fire will always be my go-to response. But if torching it doesn’t work, I might have an idea… but it costs us the last time, and we’re still paying for it.”

  “I don’t like where this is going,” Selena sighed.

  “About six hundred years ago, we invaded the Sumerians’ heaven, but after they destroyed Olympus and killed Zeus, Athena wanted revenge not only against An but their entire world. She summoned Perses, the Titan god of destruction, but had to free Mnemosyne in exchange for his help.”

  “There has to be a way to destroy this box without freeing more gods who’ll just want to kill us,” London said.

  Lugh shrugged. “Don’t know. Try whatever you want, but if nothing else works, don’t rule him out. Sometimes, the only way to win a war is to lose a battle.”

  “Are you drunk?” Cameron asked.

  “Dude, I’m dead,” Lugh reminded him.

  “Dude, I’ve been dead,” Cameron reminded him back. “And I remember having way too much to drink a few times in Findias.”

  London tossed the book onto the table and sighed in Selena’s direction. “Want to go figure out how to destroy this box without them?”

  Selena pretended to think about it then nodded. “I suspect we could accomplish a lot more a lot faster without any men around.”

  Cameron squinted at her and said, “Try getting pregnant again on your own.”

  “Sometimes, I wonder why I ever leave Findias,” Lugh announced.

  “Let’s take the box to the parking garage and I’ll burn it. If that doesn’t work, we’ll come up with something that doesn’t involve dragging our cousins’ oldest enemies into this fight.”

  “Your call,” Lugh said. “But just remember it wasn’t so long ago that the Norse were our oldest enemies, and now, Thor’s one of your closest friends. If there’s one thing I have complete faith in, it’s that you and Selena can change the world by changing the Games of the Gods. Just think about it. Create your own rules.”

  Cameron took a nervous breath, but Lugh returned to the Otherworld before he could offer the young couple any advice on how they were supposed to change attitudes and animosities that were older than most gods they knew.